Some Stuff About Some Things

I woke up this morning missing my college boy so darn much. Sometimes I'm moving along just fine, but am faintly aware of a little pit in my stomach. I rush around doing all the things, ignoring that pit and sometimes it stays small. That was yesterday. Other days, like on a random Tuesday at 11:37 am,  it's all I can do not to jump in the car, drive three and a half hours and track that kid down in his English class. Or drive 5 minutes to the grocery store and buy all the ice cream they have.

Neither of these seem like healthy coping mechanisms.

So, instead, I'll write some stuff about some things that have been happening lately.

Drew and his team had their second fall baseball tournament this weekend in Richmond, but the first I was able to attend this season. I was thrilled to be back at the ballpark since I hadn't seen them play since July. It was so hot I thought we would all burst into flames, but I didn't mind. When things in my life seem out of whack, there are few things that can make me feel like the world is spinning exactly as it should like baseball can. When my girls and I are cheering one minute and chatting so much that we lose track of the score, inning or where our own kid is playing the next, my heart is settled. Winning the tournament was just icing on the cake. The only problem is that I just wish Drew would lighten up and realize that baseball is supposed to be fun. He's just so darn serious about the whole thing. :-)

Speaking of taking sports a little too seriously, if you know what happened Saturday night with the Texas Longhorns you know that I might have been in a dark place after the game which had nothing to do with the fact that it didn't end until 12:30 am.

I was at a birthday party for the first half of the game so I had to keep bugging my husband to give me the score off of his phone. Throughout the night I found myself chatting with a number of people who don't even necessarily know who their alma mater is playing on any given Saturday.

and also

It occurs to me that this might be a very emotionally healthy way to approach life as a mature adult woman.

Anyway.

Someone was asking me if I was a big Dallas Cowboys fan. I answered that while I do hope for the Cowboys to win, by the time Sunday comes around, I simply don't have the emotional capacity to care about the Cowboys after the amount of mental energy I put in on Saturdays with the Longhorns. Somehow I got the impression that this wasn't a normal thing to say. Whatever.

The game vs. USC on Saturday night was hyped all week as the rematch of the National Championship in 2006. (Also, known as the happiest day of my entire life. I mean, besides the wedding and the kids. blah, blah, blah.)

This hype gave me no small amount of anxiety. I was fairly certain that we would get crushed by USC. Then lo and behold, as the clock inched toward midnight and Kyle and I were the last fans standing in our house, we scored to go ahead with less than a minute left in the game. Then there was the tying score by the bad guys and two overtimes during which I changed from sitting to standing to jumping to crouching to running around in circles.  It was a legitimate freak show around here. I died and came back to life and called on the Lord for mercy about 17 times during the 4th quarter. And then we lost. And that's all I have to say about that.

Speaking of calling on the Lord, I'm on Day 11 without Diet Coke and drinking this madness which I can't even pronounce. I'm still pushing through the Whole 30 - sorta, kinda, if you don't count coffee creamer and an occasional adult beverage. I am constantly on the look out for "compliant" foods. You wanna know what is not compliant? A youth baseball park's concession stand. Shocker. They don't serve roasted cauliflower. There were 432 items on the menu and the only one they had that I could consume was bottled water. Which they ran out of by the championship game. I drank about 1/4 of a non-compliant Fresca before I handed it over to Steve. And I feel like I was justified because like I said it was hot and I had to drink it SO THAT I WOULDN'T DIE. This is what I can tell you about the Whole 30 plan. It's not so bad if you never leave your house and cook all day long. In all seriousness, I do feel pretty good and I'm honestly not missing the food that I've eliminated all that much. Just the drink.

Speaking of cooking, I am spending an insane amount of time chopping vegetables and whipping up ridiculous things like my own pesto sauce and fake alfredo made out of soaked cashews. And also, spaghetti squash which I would not be able to recognize if not for the fortunate fact that it was wearing a nametag in the grocery store. All of this chopping and roasting and processing affords me a lot of time to multi-task by watching Netflix on my iPad. I just heard recently that Netflix will not offer 30 Rock after October 1st. This has me setting new tv viewing goals because I've been told no less than 123 times that I would love the show and I never have watched it. I adore Tina Fey and her book, Bossy Pants, is one of my all time favorites. So I am putting aside Parks and Rec for a bit and setting myself up to watch the whole series by October 1st. I know your admiration for my lofty life ambitions has no end. Your prayers for perseverance and success are appreciated.

Well, time to wrap it up. I made it to Wednesday morning and I feel very proud that I used yesterday to ramble on about nothingness instead of driving to Penn State like some kind of maniac on a mission to kidnap her son, who, by the way, is as happy as can be at college. (Insert all the praise hands.) Giving up seeing his face every day is 1,000 times worse than giving up Diet Coke, but the Lord is good and so is my kid.

Here's to doing hard things, friends. Have a great Wednesday and remember His mercies are new everyday. :-)